Niyamgiri: Vedanta's battleground for bauxite

And, perhaps, its Waterloo. With the Union ministry of environment and forests refusing to allow the company to mine bauxite in Orissa's Niyamgiri hill, the UK-based mining giant's troubles have multiplied. The quest to resolve all disagreements regarding the company's Lanjigarh alumina refinery project and its mining rights had brought none less than the Orissa chief minister scurrying to Delhi -- to convince the prime minister to push forward the controversial industrial project. The prime minister did not oblige.

Mining In-depth

India Environment Portal

The ministry's decision, clearly, is a welcome one. It is in favour of Niyamgiri's - and Orissa's - poorest of the poor people, and strongly endorses the concept of environmentalism of the poor. People across the country are fighting for survival. They know their poverty will only be replaced by more destitution if and when these projects are built, and they are not going to allow that to happen. We might as well accept this fact.

We bring you the complete story on Vedanta, Niyamgiri and Lanjigarh - the project, its promoters and proponents, its opponents and what all this means for the environment and economy of the country. Listed on this page are a timeline of important developments, all the key reports, Down To Earth cover stories and much more…